Crown of Slaves

Chicago's ancient ruins. He'd come to the scene just a bit too late to witness it himself, but Jeremy X had described it to him afterward. Seeing the carnage, Anton had had no difficulty believing him. The way a young State Security officer named Victor Cachat, driven by a semi-madness Anton thought he could understand-more or less-had stood his ground at point blank range and methodically slaughtered a dozen Scrags and StateSec goons hunting Anton's daughter Helen. It had been a sheerly suicidal act on Cachat's part; even if, amazingly enough, Cachat had come out at the end covered with blood and gore-none of which was his.

'Victor Cachat is not an assassin,' he said abruptly. 'Of that, I'm as sure as anything. On the other hand…'

He shrugged. 'Sorry, Special Officer Cachat. I think if there's anyone who's ever done something simultaneously cold-blooded and crazy, it's you. Oxymoron or not.'

'See?' demanded Virginia triumphantly. She wagged a finger in front of Cachat's nose. 'And you won't find a more expert opinion than Captain Zilwicki's, let me tell you! Speaking of which-'

In that quick and indescribably charming way the woman had about her, Virginia was now facing Anton again. The grin was as infectious as ever.

'-what are you doing here, Captain? I mean, besides pretending to be paying your respects to the not-so- grieving daughter, like we're pretending to be doing.'

'Ginny!' Cachat choked.

'Oh, pfui. Captain Zilwicki is certainly not going to believe our cover story-what a ridiculous notion-so why bother with the rigmarole? We're here on some kind of desperate and dangerous secret mission-when are you going to tell me what it is, anyway?-and you can be sure the Captain is doing the same.' She bestowed a look of great sympathy on Ruth and Berry. 'I'm sure he hasn't told you either. Aren't men a pain in the butt?'

Berry and Ruth made little sounds that bore a suspicious resemblance to suppressed laughter. Anton scowled. Tried to, anyway; he was fighting down a laugh himself. He started to make noises about loose lips in public places but Usher's wife drove right over it.

'Oh, don't be silly. Manticoran scrambling equipment is the best in the galaxy, like almost all your electronics. That's why Victor and I are wearing it ourselves. My husband-bless the man-swiped it somewhere or other.'

Finally, she fell silent, just gazing up at Anton and smiling cheerfully. Still waiting for the answer.

He couldn't stop a laugh from coming out. 'Damnation, Ms. Usher-'

'Call me Ginny.'

'Ginny, then. Manticore and Haven are still officially at war. So I am not going to tell the wife of the Republic of Haven's chief of police what my secret mission is.' He cleared his throat again, noisily; and sounding, even to himself, like an idiot. 'If I were on a secret mission in the first place. Which I'm not, much less a desperate and dangerous one.'

He placed a fatherly hand on each of the girl's shoulders. 'Would I have brought my own daughter and one of the royal princesses with me if I were?'

'Sure,' came the instant response. 'Makes a great cover.' Again, her lithe finger flew to Cachat's rib cage; tickling him, this time. 'Just like me and Victor are pretending to be hot and heavy lovers. Works like a charm.'

Cachat tried to fend off the finger. For a moment, he and Anton exchanged a look of sheer sympathy. Then, failing to see any other workable tactic, Anton fell back on pell-mell retreat.

' 'Fraid it's past the girls' bedtime.' Ruth and Berry scowled. 'Okay, then-it's past my bedtime. We gotta go. Nice meeting you again, Special Offi-ah, Victor. And you too, Ms. Ush-ah, Ginny. S'been a pleasure, really has.'

* * *

Once they got outside, Berry started laughing aloud. So did Du Havel. 'I don't think I've ever seen you move that fast, Daddy.'

'That woman makes my bones ache,' rumbled Anton.

Berry cast a glance back at the big top. 'Well, what do you think? Is she telling the truth, or is she making Victor Cachat's bones ache? With her energy, I bet a man would be doing well to get out of bed alive.'

Anton took a slow breath. He'd been wondering that himself, with part of his mind.

Again, Ruth gave voice to his own tentative estimate.

'No. She's telling the truth. Those rumors about her and her so-called 'lover' are so widespread that someone has to be spreading them on purpose. We've only just gotten here, and I've already overheard it from three separate sources. Not even gossip's that fast-and nasty little minds are too lazy to be that systematic.'

Anton nodded. 'What I think, too. Besides-'

He broke off and gave Ruth a sharp look. 'You are good at this, young lady. So let's see how good. What's the other reason the rumors don't make a lot of sense?'

Princess Ruth's eyes narrowed and her lips pursed a little with thought. 'Well… I'm not sure, because I don't know enough about Usher. But if he's as sharp as he's supposed to be…'

'He is,' said Anton. 'On Terra, he managed-well, never mind. Just take it as good coin that Kevin Usher ranks at the top in this screwy trade.'

'Okay, then. The other reason it doesn't make sense is because there's no way Usher wouldn't know that his wife is cheating on him. Which leaves us with only two options: It isn't happening at all, or he's got exotic tastes when it comes to sex. Voyeurism, whatever.' She shrugged. 'That last is always possible, of course, but if so-why wouldn't he take advantage of it for professional reasons, since it doesn't bother him emotionally? If he's really that smart, that is.'

'Dead on the money,' said Anton softly. 'Dead on the money. So what is their desperate and dangerous secret mission here on Erewhon?'

He and Ruth exchanged a knowing look. Berry made a face. 'Why do I feel like the only dimwit in the crowd?' she complained.

'Don't feel bad,' Du Havel said, smiling. 'I don't understand what they're smirking about, either-and I've got the Nobel-Shakhra Prize, which says I'm supposed to be a genius at political theory.'

Ruth gave her a serene smile. 'S'okay, Berry. You're just not nasty-minded, that's all. And Web doesn't know the particulars. But I've got to tell you that for those of us who are and do, the answer is a no-brainer.'

'A real 'duh,' ' agreed Anton sourly. 'High Ridge's arrogant policies toward Manticore's allies have aggravated all of them. Erewhon probably more than any besides Grayson-and the Erewhonese have a long history of practicing what used to be called Realpolitik. So, to cut to the heart of it, Victor Cachat- Usher's wife, too, I don't believe for a minute she's in the dark-are here to play the devil's advocate.'

He sighed. 'Tomorrow I'll go and try to talk to our Ambassador here.' He sighed again, more heavily. 'And when she fails to pay any attention, I'll waste my time talking to the chief of station of the SIS.'

'That's Countess Fraser and Charles Wrangel you're talking about,' said Ruth. 'Waste of your time.'

Anton nodded. 'Fraser and Wrangel, versus Cachat and Usher. Talk about a mismatch.'

'Well, look on the bright side,' pointed out Berry cheerily. 'At least Ms. Usher-Ginny, I mean, and boy did I really like her-got one thing wrong. We're not here on any secret and desperate and dangerous mission.'

They'd reached the outskirts of the immediate area around the big top, by now. The lighting here, in what amounted to a huge impromptu parking lot in a field somewhere just outside Maytag's city limits, was noticeably dimmer. In response, the soldiers from the Queen's Own had moved closer-and now, seeing a man appear out of the darkness, moved closer still.

The man spread his hands a little, just a subtle motion to demonstrate that he was unarmed. That, and the Solarian League Navy uniform he was wearing caused the guards to relax a little.

'Captain Zilwicki,' he said, in a soft and pleasant voice. 'Lieutenant Manson here, attached to Captain Rozsak's staff. I wonder if I might have a word with you in private?'

'Why do I feel like I'm on the verge of a nightmare?' Anton muttered under his breath.

But all he said aloud was: 'Certainly, Lieutenant. Web, Berry, Princess Ruth'-deliberately nodding to the wrong girl each time he addressed them-'please wait here for a moment.'